Golf Channel journalist Ryan Lavner has suggested that there is one golfer who looks better equipped to challenge Scottie Scheffler than Rory McIlroy in the next few years following the PGA Championship this past week.
Expectations that the event at Valhalla would be decided between Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka would prove to be wide of the mark.
Ultimately, it was Xander Schauffele who won his first major title at Kentucky, with the American making a birdie on the last to avoid a play-off with Bryson DeChambeau.
Schauffele’s performance at the PGA Championship saw the 30-year-old prove a real point amid serious doubts that he could get across the line in the biggest events, particularly after he fell away at the Wells Fargo Championship the previous week.
Xander Schauffele has the tools to rival Scottie Scheffler
It was McIlroy who left him behind at Quail Hollow. But speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Lavner suggested that it is Schauffele who has now the potential to rival the world number one.
“When you look at statistically, yeah, Scottie Scheffler’s the best player, he’s the best player, by far, through a strokes gained standpoint on the PGA Tour. But Xander hits it further, he hits it a little bit straighter, he’s a better long iron player, certainly better on the greens than Scottie Scheffler, who has made significant strides in 2024, but is still not the putter that Xander Schauffele is,” he said.
“To me, he’s a more complete version of Rory, plenty of distance in the tank, especially now with the changes he’s made. He’s five years younger than Rory McIlroy, I think he’s better positioned to challenge Scottie over the next two to four years than Rory McIlroy is.”
The question now facing Rory McIlroy after PGA Championship
Everything seemed to be perfectly set up for McIlroy at Valhalla. He had won on his previous two starts, and was returning to the scene of his most recent major championship triumph.
The Northern Irishman also got off to a very good start and was in contention after the first round, but never really looked catching Schauffele over the next three days.
The question now facing McIlroy concerns whether he will be able to end his current major drought at all having gone nearly a decade without winning one of the sport’s biggest prizes.
Schauffele getting across the line feels like a big moment in the career of a player who has now finished in the top three in all four majors, but he may not be the only one better equipped than McIlroy to rival Scheffler with the likes of DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland in contention right until the final stages on Sunday.
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